Magnificent, thanks! The US high-res vividly shows how formidable a challenge most of us in the eastern 2/5 of the U.S. have in accessing anything even moderately approaching true dark skies. A couple of the most surprising aspects of the whole-earth image was that of European countries, Italy seems quite noticeably more densely, brightly lit than any of the others, and also that the Arabian peninsula had not just bright spots around the edges where the cities were, but quite a few substantial islands of light smack in the middle of what I had assumed was some of the most sparsely populated, hostile desert on earth (the empty quarter).

Italy seems quite noticeably more densely, brightly lit than any of the others.

Intriguing. I was just in Italy, and despite being far more densely populated than the U.S., it seemed darker on the whole.

The Arabian peninsula had not just bright spots around the edges where the cities were, but quite a few substantial islands of light smack in the middle of what I had assumed was some of the most sparsely populated, hostile desert on earth (the empty quarter).

Flares from oil or gas wells, no doubt. Those are some of the brightest light sources on Earth.

Night fishing done with lights to attract shmrimp is another surprise.

The Williston Basin and its oilfields spanning the ND/MT border is the large fuzzy patch north and west of Minneapolis. Wow!

I use an older version of this shot as my computer's wallpaper, so I'm familiar with what it used to look like. I immediately noticed the bright patch in the Dakotas and assumed it was the recent oilfield development. Ugh!

Now I want all the light pollutions maps and overlays to be updated so I can continue to search for darker skies.

Can I mention how lucky I feel to live out west? I feel even luckier to live in Utah with its wide choices of dark sites to travel to.

Amen brother! I'm just getting settled in to our new home near Capitol Reef. The sky around here just blows me away! I used to have to drive 90 minutes or more to get under skies that don't hold a candle to my own back yard.No light domes... stars right down to the horizon...http://cleardarksky....ml?Mn=dobsonianLoving it! Linton

I just started really studying this image. I wondered why northwestern North Dakota and northeastern Montana had such widespread light. There is a concentration of lights that is about 100 miles in diameter despite there being very little in the way of cities. Anybody know what that is?